Conventionally, analog film-based X-ray imaging facilities involve initial relatively low equipment costs, particularly when amortized over the fairly long lifetime of the equipment, combined with ongoing significant expenditures per image. Per image expenses include the cost of film, processing, handling, archiving and labor.
Digital X-ray imaging facilities, which are now coming into use, involve equipment costs which are significantly greater than conventional systems and have equipment lifetime that may be shorter than that of a conventional system. The high entry cost of digital X-ray imaging facilities is generally perceived as limiting the widespread use of digital technologies for X-ray imaging. Following initial high equipment costs, digital X-ray facilities are able to offer many benefits including improving diagnostics, savings of time and cost savings by eliminating the film and phosphor screen that are associated with analog imaging, thus significantly streamlining the work flow, enhancing productivity and replacing space-intensive film archives with more easily accessible electronic archives. Moreover, the reduced usage of film and chemicals used for developing and processing of film is expected to offer ecological benefits.
Digital X-ray imaging systems that offer system costs which are competitive with conventional film/screen imaging systems combined with per image costs that are lower than the per image cost of non-digital film/screen systems could lead to widespread penetration of digital X-ray imaging systems to the marketplace, thus accelerating migration of conventional X-ray, the last non-digital medical imaging modality, to digital X-ray imaging.